he backhand.Lack, who lost his only start against Vancouver last season, was called upon to make a couple of big saves to keep the Hurricanes up by two through 40 minut

After last years unsatisfying fare, day one at the WACA was the cricket equivalent of a big juicy steak - or for vegans, an especially succulent mushroom. The ball flew off Matthew Pages pitch with bounce and pace, batsmen were startled onto the back foot where often they press forward, and a healthy crowd of 12,382 oohd and ahhd in obvious enjoyment.Australia, in search of a win to set the tone for the summer, were delighted by the carry for Mitchell Starc in the very first over of the morning. Peter Nevill was taking the ball up around shoulder height, and Stephen Cook fell off the fourth ball when he was unable to ride the bounce, like so many visiting batsmen of yore.Mitchell Marsh flew through the air at gully for the catch, and in an instant, numerous years of beige cricket on this ground were cancelled out. Memories harked instantly back to Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson, Malcolm Marshall and Curtly Ambrose. Had he seen bounce like that last year, Mitchell Johnson might still be playing now.It was all a reminder of how much the pitch is as much a character in the drama of Test cricket as the cricketers themselves, dictating the style of play, the interest of spectators and the urgency of the players. The match was being played at a pace the Australians love, redolent of southern summers under blue skies and raucous crowds.For a while, the hosts were dictating play to a domineering extent, scything through South Africas top order with an eye on batting not too long after lunch. An overpowering first-up performance with the ball has often been the cornerstone of Australian success, setting up the scoreboard and also opening up mental scars to be exploited later, even if subsequent pitches are not as slippery as Perth or, more often, Brisbane.The pre-lunch run of wickets was not sustained, as Temba Bavuma and Quinton de Kock led a fine rearguard, not dissimilar to that performed by Faf du Plessis from another ordinary South African start on this ground in 2012. This is something else about Australian-style cricket with which the hosts are well familiar. As hard as it can be to start against the new ball, the Kookaburra eases up as a projectile after an hour or two, while the evenness of pace and bounce allows batsmen - or bowlers with bat in hand - to get into a rhythm.The captain Steven Smith had noted this on match eve. That is one thing we have done well in Australia over the last couple of years, everyones contributed with the bat, he said. Ideally you want the batters to score some runs at the top of the order and in the middle order but when they havent, the guys at six, seven, eight, nine and ten have all contributed and been able to get us a big total. You want everyone working on their batting and hopefully getting us as big a total as possible. Knowledge of this scenario is important, as ring fields and steadier bowling replace the more hyper-aggressive stuff seen early on. Well though de Kock and Bavuma played, Smiths men knew that the opportunity had been opened to prevent a major first innings. Thanks to Starc, Hazlewood, Peter Siddle and Nathan Lyon, South Africas 242 left the visitors little margin for error with the ball.That opened things up for David Warner, who remains very much a batting pugilist no matter how beatific his mien appears to be away from the crease. He and Dale Steyn had traded prognostications in the lead-up to day one, the South Africans assertion about how the snake can die if you cut off the head answered by Warners hope that South Africa would get too excited by bounce and send down a series of spectacular but useless short balls. It was the second prediction the proved more correct.Warner has flayed plenty of visiting attacks in these parts, most notably India in January 2012 and New Zealand last summer, albeit on a far less hell-for-leather kind of pitch. This time around, he prospered from thick edges as much as deliveries striking the middle, at one point seeming to indicate to Steyn that he did not mean to send an upper-cut flying over the slips cordon.But the pace on the ball ensured that Warner would get value for shots snicked as well as struck, and a later upper-cut was more deliberate, resulting in a ball that cleared the boundary rope even as Warner was left, quite literally, on the seat of his pants. Pressure, relieved slightly on South Africa by their lower order flourish, was quickly transferred back as runs flowed at comfortably better than five per over. Vernon Philanders no-ball on a very adjacent LBW appeal grew increasingly costly with each passing minute.There is still plenty of cricket to be played in this match - the surface will likely quicken further on the second morning, offering the possibility of quick wickets to open up an Australian middle order lacking anyone of de Kocks class. Even so, Smiths Australians packed up for the evening confident in the knowledge that away defeats have not dulled their innate sense of how to play at home, particularly on red-blooded days like these. Compliments to the chef. Patrick Willis Jersey . LeBron James and Chris Bosh didnt need any more. Williams scored 11 points in 10 minutes, Alan Anderson scored 17 points, and the Brooklyn Nets finished the exhibition season with a 108-87 win over the Miami Heat on Friday night. Kevin Greene Jersey . Deulofeu injured a muscle in his right leg in Evertons 4-1 win over Fulham in the English Premier League on Saturday. Barcelona says that its team doctors will "co-ordinate" with Evertons medical staff as Deulofeu recovers. http://www.custompatriotsjersey.com/custom-steve-bono-jersey-large-1691f.html . The judges scored it 48-47, 48-47, 49-46 for Jones (19-1). It was the champions closest call. Despite the loss, it was a remarkable show by the confident Swedish challenger, who had the best of the early rounds and then hung on in the fourth and fifth. Tom Owen Jersey . LOUIS -- Theres no telling how these wacky World Series games will end. Gino Cappelletti Jersey . Jeff Green scored 13 points and Kris Humphries 12 for the Celtics, who nearly blew an 18-point, second-half lead. Sullingers 20-20 was the first by a Celtics player since Kevin Garnetts first game in Boston in 2007. Garnett was dealt -- along with Paul Pierce -- to Brooklyn during the off-season. VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- The Canucks didnt have much success when trailing after two periods last season.In 2016-17, theyre already 2 for 2.Brandon Sutter scored 32 seconds into overtime and Vancouver erased a three-goal deficit to beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 on Sunday night.Sutter, who buried the only shootout goal in Saturdays 2-1 victory over Calgary, grabbed the puck in his own zone and got a step on a defender before beating Eddie Lack on a quick shot for his first of the season over the blocker on a 2-on-1 rush for the Canucks second straight comeback win.Mr. Clutch finishes it off again, said Vancouver defenseman Ben Hutton, who tied the game with under 6 minutes to go in regulation.The Canucks were 3-30-1 when down after two periods in 2015-16, but already have two wins under those circumstances early this season after tying Saturdays game with the Flames late in the third.To come from behind twice like that in our own rink is big, something that we didnt do very well last year, Sutter said. It seemed like those close games at the start of the year last year, we ended up losing in overtime and shootouts.Markus Granlund had a goal and an assist and Bo Horvat also scored for Vancouver, which got 19 stops from Jacob Markstrom. Sutter added an assist.Justin Faulk had a goal and an assist, while Victor Rask and Teuvo Teravainen also scored for Carolina. Lack made 27 saves against his former team.The Hurricanes were coming off a 5-4 overtime loss to Winnipeg on Thursday in which they blew a 4-1 third-period lead.Its not good. Its obviously something we are going to have to address, Lack said. If were going to make the playoffs we cant do that.Vancouver trailed 3-1 after two periods, but cut the deficit just 1:11 into the third when Granlund finished a nice passing play with Sutter and Jannik Hansen for his first of the season after Faulk turned the puck over in his own zone.The Canucks continued to press and Hutton tied the game with 5:50 left in regulation when he buried his first from the slot past Lack, a fan favorite during his two seasons in Vancouver before he was traded to Carolina following the 2014-15 season.ddddddddddddLack stood strong during a late Vancouver power play, including a great stop on Sven Baertschi in front and then another on Granlund with about a minute left in regulation.Carolina led 2-0 after scoring goals 1:24 apart late in the opening period, and stretched that lead at 5:28 of the second when Faulk took advantage of some soft defensive play to bury his own rebound past Markstrom off the rush for his first of the season.Vancouver started to play better as the second period wore on, and Horvat scored his first with 7:57 left after taking a rebound off the end boards and making a strong move to the net on the backhand.Lack, who lost his only start against Vancouver last season, was called upon to make a couple of big saves to keep the Hurricanes up by two through 40 minutes, including a great pad stop on a slick deflection by Loui Eriksson.Vancouver had a number of early chances and held an 8-1 shot advantage 10 minutes into the game before the visitors found their legs.Rask scored his second goal of the season with 2:24 left in the period after working a give and go with Lee Stempniak, roofing a perfect shot into the top corner.The Hurricanes then doubled their lead on the power play with 49.7 seconds remaining when Teravainen, who was acquired from Chicago in an offseason trade, picked up a loose puck after Faulks point shot was blocked and swept his first of the year past Markstrom.UP NEXTCanucks: Continue a four-game homestand Tuesday night against St. Louis.Hurricanes: Play their third of six straight on the road to start the season Tuesday night in Edmonton. 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